Excellent rally turnout at City Hall

Thank you to everyone who helped with Save Lakewood Hospital’s rally Monday evening. An energetic crowd of young and old stretched from one corner of Lakewood City Hall’s block to the other, reminding city council that the community will be heard on our hospital’s future.

Several speakers also addressed the rally, including Michelle Mahon of National Nurses United, State Senator Mike Skindell, and multiple Lakewood residents testifying to how important Lakewood Hospital has been in their lives.

Following the rally, Save Lakewood Hospital Chair Marguerite Harkness led a delegation presenting city council with well over 2,000 signatures calling for Lakewood Hospital to remain open.

Senator Skindell has posted some photos to Twitter. Local media turned out for the rally as well; cleveland.com has posted a story (with video). Check back for more updates.

The Atlantic reports on Lakewood Hospital & similar communities

Writing for The Atlantic, Phil Galewitz examines the trend of hospitals abandoning older neighborhoods and cities like Lakewood, in pursuit of suburban affluence. The example of Belleville, Illinois’s St. Elizabeth’s Hospital may sound eerily familiar:

Describing plans to leave behind some services, including a walk-in clinic, St. Elizabeth’s CEO Maryann Reese insists the hospital is not abandoning the city or the poor.

But that’s exactly how many residents, community leaders, and clergy see it. If St. Elizabeth’s leaves downtown, they say, it will limit care for many poorer residents, especially those dependent on public transportation, and lead to overcrowding at the city’s one other hospital, which is downsizing. Many also worry about the loss of jobs and of the visitors to the hospital who patronize local shops and eateries.

Geri Boyer, who runs a bed and breakfast and an engineering firm on Main Street, said that as a Catholic, she’s “appalled” by the hospital’s plan. “I do think they are putting profit motivations over the mission of serving the poor. I am upset and embarrassed for [them].”

“Communities can be tipped by the loss of a vital medical institution,” the Belleville police captain John Moody II wrote in a scathing letter about the plan to a state review board. “There is too much at stake and the loss will be catastrophic and I fear unrecoverable.”

Hospitals have moved to follow population migrations before, but the relocations are becoming more common.

Read the whole story at The Atlantic.

Cleveland Clinic shies from commitment

The Cleveland Clinic has claimed an ongoing “commitment to Lakewood,” despite its campaign to escape its lease agreement and demolish the city’s hospital. Commitment, however, seemed to be the most elusive quantity when Clinic representatives addressed city council Thursday night.

As reported at cleveland.com,

Councilwoman Cindy Marx asked if Cleveland Clinic officials would guarantee Lakewood Hospital employees jobs elsewhere if the local hospital closed. [Clinic chief of regional hospitals Brian] Donley said the clinic looks to provide every employee in good standing who wants a job with a job somewhere in the Cleveland Clinic system or with a partner. However, after the meeting, he said that while the Clinic would make every effort to place every employee, he would not use the word “guarantee.”

Meanwhile, Clinic representatives boasted of how their proposed family health center would offer residents more services than Lakewood Hospital (from which the Clinic has been eliminating services). Despite which, “Clinic officials could not [specify] which specialties would be available at the Lakewood facility. That is yet to be determined.”

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Closing Lakewood Hospital may cost $300 million/year

On Monday, Save Lakewood Hospital chair Marguerite Harkness presented city council with a troubling warning about the economic impact of eliminating the city’s hospital.

Save Lakewood Hospital’s research and finance committees calculate that the hospital contributes more than $294 million to Lakewood, annually, far in excess of the city’s own estimates. Harkness modeled her report on an economic impact report prepared by the Iowa Hospital Association.

Harkness’s appearance has been reported by cleveland.com, here. Her complete presentation to council follows.

Author’s note: “As is typical, Council generously granted me only 3 minutes at the end of the meeting and cut me off mid-sentence. How are they going to learn about other options for saving the hospital, if they don’t allow educated citizens to present information to them?”Read More

NPR, other media notice

Tuesday’s announcement of potential legal action against the City of Lakewood has generated further coverage of Lakewood Hospital. Ideastream has posted a story, here; the announcement is also the lead in the most recent Lakewood Observer.

Also in the Observer, critical comments about the “letter of intent” scenario from Dr. Terence Kilroy and Jared Denman.

At cleveland.com, meanwhile, John Vacha critiques the consequences of the Cleveland Clinic model for urban sprawl, and Coletta Graham calls on Lakewood to rally in our hospital’s defense.

Hospital campaign gaining support, logo

Save Lakewood Hospital has introduced a new image to complement its campaign. Incorporating both the heritage of Lakewood Hospital, represented by its distinctive architectural presence, and the pulse of the living community that is rallying to save the hospital, the graphic will identify Save Lakewood Hospital communications and programs. The design was prepared by local studio Modern Alchemy.

In other news, support for Lakewood Hospital continues attracting media notice. The Lakewood Observer has recently published a detailed critique of the hospital closure plan by state senator Michael Skindell, as well as an impassioned letter from Joe Gombarcik. The Sun Post-Herald has recently published two letters supporting the hospital, and Save Lakewood Hospital’s efforts.

Thank you to all who have spoken up. Please continue making your voices heard!

Save Lakewood Hospital in the news

Save Lakewood Hospital ally Steve Dever has filed a formal request for Lakewood Hospital Association meeting minutes and related records, cleveland.com reported this week. As Dever and fellow legal professionals have discussed, many of these documents should fall within formal public records definitions; Dever adds that maintenance of public trust also argues for disclosure of precisely how Lakewood Hospital arrived at the crisis which Cleveland Clinic alleges.

The City of Lakewood is expected to respond to Dever’s request by the end of this week.

In other news, cleveland.com also published another letter supportive of keeping a full-fledged hospital operating in Lakewood.

Skindell to Council: hospital is still very viable

State Senator Michael Skindell recently addressed Lakewood City Council about Lakewood Hospital’s future; cleveland.com has coverage here, and the Senator’s office has issued the following news release:

Senator Skindell Says There Is No Need to Close Lakewood Hospital

Calls on City Council to take immediate action to keep the facility open

Columbus – State Senator Michael J. Skindell (D-Lakewood) is calling on Lakewood City Council to reject plans to close Lakewood Hospital in 2016. Speaking at a city council meeting last night, Senator Skindell said there was no need to close Lakewood Hospital and called the closure plans misguided.

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Senator Michael Skindell addresses Save Lakewood Hospital meeting

State Senator Michael Skindell spoke to Save Lakewood Hospital, Sunday evening. Among approximately 20 attendees at the campaign’s second meeting, Senator Skindell reaffirmed his conviction that Lakewood Hospital can and should be saved.

The Cleveland Clinic’s proposal to shut down the hospital and substitute a smaller health center is not Lakewood’s only option, Skindell said. “There are opportunities out there,” he told the meeting, adding that he will urge City Council meeting to issue an open, public request for proposals. Skindell will be addressing City Council at 8 p.m., Thursday, March 12.

Senator Skindell and others present also described options and requirements for a community vote on the future of Lakewood Hospital, and other potential courses of action.

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Anderson: city should hire our own consultant

Cleveland.com reports today that “City councilman David Anderson wants [Lakewood city] council to consider hiring a health care consultant to help decide whether to approve a controversial plan to close and demolish the city-owned hospital.”

Writes Bruce Geiselman, “Anderson told council colleagues the city and residents would benefit from its own advice on what is in the best interests of residents, rather than relying on information from a hospital-hired consultant.”

Following Councilman O’Leary’s recent call for study of the economic consequences of closing Lakewood Hospital, this is encouraging news. The Cleveland Clinic plan, which requires approval by our city council, is not a done deal. Let members of council know that you support proper investigation of all options for our hospital, rather than just rubber-stamping the Clinic’s letter of intent.

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